Tag Archives: cheese

Festive Feasting

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It was a fun week! My aunt and uncle were in town for a show and we had a great time meeting up with them. I didn’t take any photos but we had GREAT meals at Canary Club and El Quiote.

Highlights include…

I managed to eat a truly impressive amount of peppermint and/or Christmas themed food!

Blank Street‘s candy cane cold brew was possibly my favorite coffee of this year!

The coquito cold brew (with two shots of espresso) from 787 obviously isn’t bad either.

Health-Ade Holiday Cheers kombucha.

Peppermint vodka seltzer, yes, I dyed it green.

Amazing tiramisu eggnog at Dante.

Peppermint ice cream (12/10) with peppermint chocolate quinoa bites.

Adam’s favorite bakery in New York is probably Blacksmith’s Breads. He sweetly surprised me with a pretzel bread.

Greek yogurt bowl with tiger syrup, granola, and persimmon.

Good-not-great but incredibly convenient microwave rice rolls.

Very Spicy Vegan Dan Dan Noodles from Very Fresh Noodles. It wasn’t actually that spicy (more numbing than hot) but the noodles were unbelievably fresh, bouncy and perfect.

This was the best meal I’ve made this year. Roasted broccoli / roasted red onion / roasted white beans / dried cherries / best ever sauce; in the food processor – parsley, roasted jalopeno, Korean chili flake, smoked almonds, smoked sardines, parmesan, honey, garlic, salt, evoo, and a bit of water / and I topped my bowl with candied jalopenos.

Thankful For Family

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This year I worked Thanksgiving Day but then had Friday off for a long weekend — so my parents came to visit! They loved getting to experience the cold (not many 45 degree days in St. Thomas!) and spend time with their granddog and we did a bunch of great New York exploring. Our travels included Time Square, Bryant Park, Chelsea Market, Industry City, Bushwick, Greenpoint, and Hudson!

I did not take a single dinner photo – we went to the oldest steakhouse in New York and also had outstanding meals at Kitty’s in Hudson and Glasserie in Brooklyn! – but here are a few highlights from the past week…

I managed to eat many on-theme things on Thanksgiving.

My parents and I stuck with tradition and ate Thanksgiving nachos – Trader Joe’s stuffing chips with smoked turkey, sauteed shishitos, swiss and gruyere, and cranberry sauce. Plus sauteed green beans with butter and lemon.

Plus Loryn Powell said that Fireball and banana cream rum tastes like a Cinnabon so my mom and I tried it with a maple pecan cream liquer and were quite impressed!

We were also pleased with these Tip Top mini canned cocktails.

We tried – and loved – one of the Zaro’s specialty black and white cookies – mint chocolate.

We found the Oishii omakase strawberries on sale! Fun to try but no one really preferred them to standard strawberries.

Everyone thought that Fortunes Ice Cream in Trivoli makes the best ice cream we’ve ever tried. I got persimmon and the sour cherry labne.

Broad rice noodles with tofu from Bangkok Bar in Industry City – I’ve wanted to go there for forever and now I want to go back immediately.

Great iced latte from Wycoff Starr.

Festive yogurt bowl with plain skry, frozen banana bread, brown sugar syrup, cinnamon, and sumatra mandarin.

Top 5, x2

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Some of our favorite things from an exceptionally delicious weekend. We went to our favorite brewery and tried two restaurants that both easily made the cut for top five meals we’ve eaten in 2022.

Drinks at Evil Twin – we had a fall x candy x Wonderland line-up of beers.

Even More Hydra fruited sour / Fresh Feet & No Chicken citrus milkshake IPA / Fun Sized Halloween candy sour ale / Marshmallow is the New Milk Sugar marshmallow triple IPA / Back to the Pumpkin Patch pumpkin milkshake IPA. Also a Concrete Jungle fruit punch gose.

Dinner at Sobre Masa – a Mexican restaurant and tortilleria in Bushwick.

We shared seared queso fresco with fresh salsa.

And the best chips and guacamole we’ve ever tasted, with a variety of salsas.

I drank an El Pastor De Flavor – fat-washed tequilla, rum, roasted guava, masa, Vino de Agave, lemon balsam magnolia aperitif, and Mexican bitters.

And I ordered the oyster mushrooms with cracked corn, hoja santa, and guajillo mole. Plus housemade tortillas.

Housemade flan and tres leches for dessert.

Dinner at Potluck Club – a Cantonese American Restaurant on the Lower East Side. Everything was fantastic and the space was so cute!

A yuzu hard seltzer and a Chinese pale ale.

Spicy eggplants with fried shallot and cilantro.

Braised short rib with kobucha squash.

Rice roll noodles with oyster mushrooms, asparagus, chives, and hanger steak. <– best dish of the weekend!

Pumpkin, Peppermint, Prezels

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Fun things from this weekend – we early voted and it only took a couple of minutes! The weather was gorgeous and we took a bunch of long, beautiful walks.

Food highlights included…

In a fit of out-of-season joy I bought and loved a peppermint mocha ice latte.

Brunch at Emilia’s Bakehouse in Melville. We had great lattes.

And a preztel croissant.

Loved this Aura Bora flavor. They have two new seasonal flavors I am dying to get my hands on.

I also tried and loved two new boozy seltzer cans. The June Shine passion fruit vodka soda has all my favorite things!

Great new flavor from Chip – a brown sugar cookie made with apple butter, stuffed with a caramel apple filling, and topped with cinnamon sugar.

Desserts in Astoria. Baklava and Knafeh.

Thai food in Astoria. I got extra-spicy drunken noodles with extra veggies and mock duck.

Plus we shared great crab rangoon.

Trader Joe’s pumpkin-shaped pasta with homemade meat sauce (pizza sauce with ground turkey and ground chicken, garlic, salt, pepper, urfa pepper, smoked paprika, and three cheese blend). Plus rainbow cauliflower.

Best Of The Month

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I’m posting a day early because I am heading to Ohio to celebrate my grandmother’s birthday! My mom will be there too!! It’s all very exciting!

Highlights from this past week include…

It’s Pumpkin Month but the apple selection has still been great – Lady Alice, Snap Dragon, and SweeTango.

I saved my favorite pumpkin beers for last – Schlafly pumpkin ale and Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin.

Kilwin’s chocolate dipped marshmallows are one of my favorite treats, especially with holiday sprinkles.

We 11/10 loved these elevated jalpeno poppers from Whole Foods.

Pumpkin turkey chili. Ground turkey, sweet onion, poblano pepper, yellow and orange bell pepper, pumpkin puree, diced tomatoes, black beans, great northern beans, pumpkin ale, salt and pepper, smoked paprika, cinnamon, mace, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, and minced ginger. Topped with sour cream and Trader Joe’s hot and sweet pickled jalopenos.

Served with pumpkin tortilla chips and pimento cheese dip.

Pumpkin pasta. Ground turkey with pumpkin puree, chili crisp, and sour cream on whole-wheat pasta.

Plus roasted broccoli tossed with a mix of Korean chili flake, brown sugar, minced ginger, fish sauce, and rice vinegar.

PB&J

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Highlights from the weekend include…

Peanut butter and jelly protein bites – good.

Peanut butter and jelly Chip cookie – better.

An epic seasonal Southern Tier combo. *swoon*

Not seasonal but still good – Trader Joe’s starfruit sparkling water.

PSA – Whole Foods’ unseasoned microwaved popcorn is perfect. This bowl was both buttered and seasoned!

There is a new sushi spot near us and I am obsessed with their avocado bomb (stuffed with spicy tuna).

A simple but satisfying sandwich – smoked turkey, gouda, and mayo on a whole-wheat bun. Plus a mountain on roasted green beans.

Gourdgeous

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This week’s highlights were… pumpkin snacks and random dinners.

I made Hummingbird High’s pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. They are insanely good.

Siggi’s pumpkin spice skyr with blackberries and granola.

Trader Joe’s vanilla bean Greek yogurt with pumpkin puree, maple syrup, chia seeds, blackberries, and grnola.

Pumpkin pie smoothie. Pumpkin puree with milk, plain Greek yogurt, frozen banana, maple syrup, cinnamon, and mace.

Trader Joe’s scallion pancake / canned salmon with mayo and Sriracha / roasted zucchini / all topped with Kewpie, Sriracha, and furikake.

Roasted cauliflower and chicken salad – shredded chicken breasts, mayo, yellow mustard, honey mustard dressing, and roasted almonds slivers with Sichuan salt.

Breakfast burger sandwiches. Whole Foods’ plant-based burgers, gouda, and a fried egg on a whole-wheat bun with blueberry jam. Plus leftover cauliflower.

Pumpkin Month

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FYI – It’s Pumpkin Month! Here is this year’s stash…

Even more exciting – we went glamping on the waterfront in Greenpoint and got to enjoy the perfect view.

And the boy came with us!! The three of us had a wonderful time.

Highlights from the weekend…

I ended Apple Month with a homemade cinnamon apple pie cocktail.

And I started Pumpkin Month with a Pump Rock from Sweetleaf. Their Rocket Fuel (cold brew concentrate with chicory, maple syrup, and milk) with the addition of pumpkin spice syrup.

We also loved a maple spice latte from Southdown.

Cherry cola shave ice from Sea Cliff.

This Sriracha shrimp bowl from Trader Joe’s has held the title of my favorite frozen meal for more than a year.

Fries with beer cheese and short ribs from Greenpoint Brewery; all three of us were smitten.

Best meal of the month – takeout from Elder Greene. We shared crispy brussel sprouts with goat cheese and maple walnut aioli / The Burger – LaFrieda short rib blend, cheddar, American, pickles, onion, and special sauce / and a Waygu burger with white cheddar, arugula, lemon herb aioli, and a brioche bun.